Listen to Said Al-Hallaj, Chairman & CEO of ALLCELL TECHNOLOGIES, speaking about China’s attitude on the current technological advancement of electric vehicle against the impending energy crisis — small improvements are better than nothing.

Here is Ali Nourai from American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utility companies in the USA, giving an exclusive interview during the EV Li-ion Battery Forum 2009. Hear him talk about the outlook for Li-ion batteries for energy storage and why he feels it is a solid bet.

Here is an exclusive interview clip with Naveen Munjal, Managing Director of HERO ELECTRIC at the EV Li-ion Battery Forum 2009, talking about the delegates from the various electric vehile lithium-ion value-chain that he has interacted with and how he has benefitted from attending the forum.

“China will lead the development of electric cars, whose electric car market is bound to boost other countries’ development in the field,” said Portrait of Hanno D. Wentzler – President and CEO of Freudenberg Chemical Specialties, Regional Representative for China recently.

[Source & Read More: People's Daily Online]

Hitachi, Ltd. announced that Hitachi and Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Ltd. ,which develops and manufactures lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications, such as hybrid electric vehicles, have developed lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, a first for the Hitachi Group. These new batteries were developed in response to the growing demand for environment-friendly vehicles resulting from the increasingly strict regulations on automobile exhaust emissions around the world. Starting from the spring of 2010, the company will begin shipping samples to automobile manufacturers in Japan and overseas.

[Source & Read More: Hitachi]

Ferrari will show its first hybrid production car this March at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The high-end hybrid specimen will be a gas-electric version of the carmaker’s eye-popping 599 GTB. It will also be the world’s first ready-for-market exotic hybrid.

The exact specs will not be known until the car is unveiled, but it will most likely unite a lithium ion battery pack with a pair of electric motors fixed at the rear axle, along with Ferrari’s outlandishly powerful 600-plus horsepower V12 engine.

[Source & Read More: Hybrid Cars]

The shaky status of Saab — the loss-making auto brand that General Motors threatened to shut down late last year before finally reaching a deal with specialty car maker Spyker — cast uncertainty around the first publicly announced demonstration of battery maker Boston-Power’s devices in plug-in vehicles. The dust has now started to settle, and Boston-Power CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerud tells us the project is going “full steam ahead.”

[Source & Read More: earth2tech]

The government has increased its annual budget for assisting research and development institutes in the development of lithium fuel cells as part of efforts to promote the development of the electric vehicle industry.

[Source & Read More: The China Post]

The rush to find lithium in West Quebec has some residents concerned that prospectors will cut trees and tunnel or drill on their land to meet the demand for the volatile metal used in rechargeable electric car batteries.

Stelmine Canada Ltd., a Montreal-area mineral exploration company has staked claims on 13,000 acres of private land just across the border from Ottawa.

[Source & Read More: The Windsor Star]

It was barely a year ago that electric vehicles (EVs) were largely relegated to the novelty category by most in the utility industry. Now, one finds EVs prominently covered in virtually every utility smart grid conference program, and some utilities are even considering the launch of new EV charging businesses. In over 20 years of utility industry involvement, I have never seen utilities go through such a rapid shift in thinking.

Many factors contributed to the shift in utility perspectives toward EVs, but the turning point arguably would be the announcement of billions of dollars of federal stimulus funding to support alternative fuel vehicle programs in the U.S. and elsewhere. This has propelled auto manufacturers to announce planned production of at least 60 xEV (EV, PHEV, HEV) passenger and light duty plug-in vehicles by 2010, and at least 119 models of xEV passenger vehicles by 2015 (1). What does the arrival of all of these EVs mean for utilities?

[Source & Read More: Better Place]